Gustave Luders (December 13, 1865 – January 24, 1913) was a German-born American

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

music arranger In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchestratio ...

, and

conductor Conductor or conduction may refer to: Biology and medicine * Bone conduction, the conduction of sound to the inner ear * Conduction aphasia, a language disorder Mathematics * Conductor (ring theory) * Conductor of an abelian variety * Cond ...

. He is best known as a composer of

operettas Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera. It includes spoken dialogue, songs and including dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, and length of the work. Apart from its shorter length, the ope ...

and musical comedies; many of the which were first staged in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

prior to being staged on

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...

. His style of writing was heavily influenced by both

Arthur Sullivan Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan (13 May 1842 – 22 November 1900) was an English composer. He is best known for 14 comic opera, operatic Gilbert and Sullivan, collaborations with the dramatist W. S. Gilbert, including ''H.M.S. Pinaf ...

and

Viennese operetta Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera. It includes spoken dialogue, songs and including dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, and length of the work. Apart from its shorter length, the oper ...

Life and career

Gustave Carl Luders was born on December 13, 1865 in

Bremen, Germany Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (, ), is the capital of the German state of the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (), a two-city-state consisting of the cities of Bremen and Bremerhaven. W ...

. He trained as a musician in Germany. In 1888 he immigrated to the United States where he settled in

Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

. There he worked as an orchestra conductor and the director of a

light opera Comic opera, sometimes known as light opera, is a sung dramatic work of a light or comic nature, usually with a happy ending and often including spoken dialogue. Forms of comic opera first developed in late 17th-century Italy. By the 1730s, a ne ...

company. In 1889 Luders began working for M. Witmark & Sons as a music arranger. Soon after he relocated to Chicago where he worked in various theaters as a

pit orchestra A pit orchestra is a type of orchestra that accompanies performers in Musical theatre, musicals, operas, ballets, and other shows involving music. The term was also used for orchestras accompanying silent movies when more than a piano was used. ...

conductor. He began writing operettas and music comedies with the librettist

Frank S. Pixley Frank S. Pixley (November 21, 1865 or 1867 - 1919) was an educator, newspaper editor, playwright and lyricist. He partnered with Gustav Luders, Pixley writing words and lyrics and Luders the music for several shows. ''American Musical Produ ...

who was his most frequent collaborator. Their most successful work was ''

The Prince of Pilsen ''The Prince of Pilsen'' is a lost 1926 American silent romantic comedy film directed by Paul Powell and starring Anita Stewart and George Sidney. David Belasco David Belasco (July 25, 1853 – May 14, 1931) was an American theatrical prod ...

''. It was adapted into the film ''

''. It was staged many times both in the United States and abroad into the 1950s. His other successful works included ''The Burgomaster'' (1900), ''Woodland'' (1904) and ''The Sho-Gun'' (1904). Luders also teamed with the writer

George Ade George Ade (February 9, 1866 – May 16, 1944) was an American writer, syndicated newspaper columnist, librettist, and playwright who gained national notoriety at the turn of the 20th century with his "Stories of the Streets and of the Town", a ...

. The

Lester S. Levy Sheet Music Collection The Lester S. Levy Collection of Sheet Music consists of over 29,000 pieces of American popular music spanning the years of 1780 to 1980 and is maintained by Johns Hopkins University as part of Special Collections at the Milton S. Eisenhower Libra ...

at Johns Hopkins has several of his works. Gustave Luders died in New York City on January 24, 1913.

Work

*''

The Burgomaster ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...

'' with Frank Pixley *'' By the Sad Sea Waves (musical)'' *"King Dodo" (1901) with Frank Pixley *''Woodland'' (1904) *'' The Sho-Gun'' (1904), with

**"Korean Dance" (1904) ***"Hi-Ko, Hi-Ko" (1904) *''The Grand Mogul'' (1906) *'' Marcelle'' (1908) *''The Gypsy'' (1912) *'' Somewhere Else'' (1913) *''

Mam'selle Napoleon "Mam'selle" is a bittersweet song about a ''rendez-vous'' with a "mam'selle" ('' mademoiselle'') in a small café. The music was written by Edmund Goulding, the lyrics by Mack Gordon. Background The song originally appeared in the movie, ''The Raz ...

'' *''The Prince of Pilsen'' *''

The Fair Co-ed ''The Fair Co-Ed'', also known as ''The Varsity Girl'', is a 1927 American silent film comedy starring Marion Davies and released through MGM. The film was produced by William Randolph Hearst, through Cosmopolitan Productions and directed by S ...

'' *'' The old town: A musical farce in two acts''

References

External links

Findagrave entry
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Luders, Gustav 1865 births 1913 deaths Musicians from Bremen (city) Emigrants from the German Empire to the United States American musical theatre composers American male musical theatre composers People from the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen